British singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt [ tickets ], who opens a series of dates for R.E.M. this fall, will also support the North American release of his sophomore album with a summer club tour.

Harcourt will perform solo on piano and guitar during the June outing, which will visit 17 cities over three weeks. Norwegian pop star Sondre Lerche will open on all dates except for the tour's June 8 stop in Boulder, Colo.

"From Every Sphere," Harcourt's latest album, is scheduled for North American release on May 20. Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Low) produced the set.

"I realized I loved a lot of things that [Blake had] worked on in the past," Harcourt said in his record company biography. "He brought an amazing innovative quality to recording. His thought processing was unique, and we really connected."

Harcourt's debut, "Here Be Monsters," was nominated for the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. He described the new album as more upbeat than its predecessor.

"'Here Be Monsters' was me coming out of adolescence, and 'From Every Sphere' is me coming into my mid twenties, a little wiser, a little surer about everything," he said.

This fall, Harcourt returns to the U.S. to support on six of R.E.M.'s fall tour dates, and will finish the trek with a Sept. 21 appearance at the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas.